Solo Shots

People show up to the movie theaters, and for an hour or so second-handily experience the language of the actors through a story line of comedy, romance, or horror. But most people tend to over look the language that is interpreted in the film behind the scenes; how the cinematographer and director use their own dialect through camera shots to intertwine the language of acting and film together to produce a movie that would have a follow-through. 

Film-makers use the direction of different distances to portray these moments in time. Specific shots are utilized to interpret a situation differently. For instance in the Academy Award winning film, The Soloist, you can see how director Joe Wright manipulates the situation in a scene by displaying it through a long shot, medium shot or close up view. It allows the story to travel from general to specific details by changing the look of the scene.

Illustrated in the first image, the long shot presents an overview of the location and who all is relative to the place. Also known as the orientation shot, shown from The Soloist, we can find that Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez are set in an abandoned street alley, therefore giving a "who" and "where" of the plot. Steve is stepped back, eyes open, watching the violinist play his tunes. It symbolizes a lonely, isolated state setting the characters farther away and smaller to the eye.

Following the long shot is the second picture of information, the medium shot. This brings a closer look to who the characters are, and confirming that they are Nathaniel and Steve. Here they meet each other, still within each other's comfort zones, putting a name to the face. The visual is combined with discussion between the two people, representing and stating a 
relationship in the film.

And finally comes the impact of emotion, revealing the freckles, wrinkles, or dimples on their face, as well as conveying important details to advance in the narrative. Nathaniel is cautious to Steve, showing little trust and hesitation in his physical self. Altogether the combination of these shots pull together the language of film and its significance in relevance to the story and its characters/actors.